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cleanliness, of ventilation, and drainage of those places; the more frequent
removal of dung should be insisted upon, and the number of cows so reduced,
that each cow should have a space of at least 1,000 cubic feet. That no cowhouses
should be licensed unless the dung-pit and the place for storing
grains are without the walls of the cow-shed. All dung from cow-sheds,
slaughter-houses, stables, and lay-stalls, should bo vested in Local Boards,
who should be compelled to remove the same every day; for, unless the
local authorities are intrusted with the power of removing the dung from
the several places in their respective districts where it is accumulated, it
will be retained by the owners until it can be sold to the best advantage.
No new cow-shed, nor new slaughter-house, should, on any account, be
licensed in this district, for these businesses are nuisances and prejudical to
health in crowded neighbourhoods.
Frequent complaints have been made to this office of the unhealthy
condition of Frying-pan Alley and Charlotte Court. In the former, Fever
has prevailed to a very great extent; but previous to any outbreak of this
disease, the Court was inspected, and orders were served upon the owner to
whitewash the rooms and passages of the houses, to improve the drainage,
and to re-pave the back yards. While these improvements were in progress,
fever made its appearance among some of the inhabitants, and the
disease soon spread to others. On personally inspecting these houses, I
found that they were, for the most part, inhabited by foreign Jews, and
were overcrowded; the back-yards were very small, and the small
space of these yards was being further diminished by the addition of two
rooms, one of which was occupied by a family, and the other was in the
course of erection. It appears that the Building Act does not confer
power on any authority to interfere in such a case, so as to prevent the
building of additional rooms to houses, which are already too closely
packed together, without a sufficient open space at the rear. I referred
this case to the Metropolitan Board, who directed the attention of the
District Surveyor to the subject.
Charlotte Court, in which there has lately been several cases of Measles,
Hooping Cough, and Small-pox, was specially inspected by the Inspector,
whose report was laid before the Committee of Works, when the Surveyor
was directed to examine and report upon the drainage of the locality. It
appears, from the report of the Inspector, that the basements of the houses
in this Court are about three feet below the surface of the adjoining street.
The Court is 345 feet in length and 9 feet in width, and contains 43 houses,
each having 3 rooms, a wash-house and small yard at the rear. There were